Do you know that a tiny little worm gives us our silk dresses, hair ribbons, neckties, gloves, stockings, and many other useful things? Do you know how the worm makes the silk? It is a very wonderful story. Let us study about silk to-day. In the picture (Fig. 63) you will see one of the silkworms full-grown. The mother and father were beautiful moths. The mother moth lays the little eggs on the leaves of the mulberry tree because they are good food for her baby worms. The sunshine and warmth hatch the little eggs. The eggs are like pinheads, and are smaller than tiny grains of chopped corn which you feed your chickens. Your mother hen sets on the eggs until the warmth makes the chicks grow, but the sunshine starts the tiny moth eggs. Soon a little baby worm comes out and is as small as a tiny thread. It grows and grows and eats and eats, until it is about three inches long and nearly as thick around as one of your fingers, as the picture shows (Fig. 63). It takes about a month for the worm to grow so large. It must be tended very carefully and given the right food, or it will die. The food must be chopped fine. It is like preparing milk for baby; is it not? They must, also, be kept very clean in order to grow. Cleanliness always helps animals, as well as people, to grow. [Illustration: _Courtesy of Corticelli Silk Co. Copyright, 1896, Nonotuck Silk Co._ FIG. 63.--Corticelli silkworm, eating.] =Have you heard that there are some countries where the silkworm grows better than in others?= Can you name the countries producing the most silk? You have learned that in your geography. Yes, Japan and China and Italy. Yes, and France and Asia Minor, too. Do you think the United States produces very much silk? Why not? In the countries named, labor is not so expensive. Silkworms require much care and labor. [Illustration: _Courtesy of United States Department of Agriculture._ FIG. 64.--The houses or cocoons built by the worms in the branches.] Silk is the most beautiful and the strongest of the common fibers. It also costs the most. The silk fiber produced by these tiny worms is often four thousand feet in length. Let us learn how the tiny worm does such a wonderful thing. He must work as hard as the busy bee. =After the worm is full-grown he begins his busy work.= This is like boys and girls; they, too, begin to work when they are grown. If well fed and clean, the worm will work well. This is apt to be true of girls and boys, too. The worm begins by making a house for himself called a cocoon (Fig. 64). Have you ever seen the cocoons of any moth? If you will look, you will find them on the trees. Miss James has some cocoons of the lovely green Luna moth. She put the green worm in the box, and it has spun a cocoon. We do not find the mulberry worm growing wild in the United States. In some countries it grows wild, just as our Luna moth.